Icarus barely managed to resist the urge to shake his head when she chose not to listen to him after he had identified the individuals.  His calculations were sloppy as he had not quite taken in full account of the amount of alcohol the woman had been consuming.  He would try to adjust better since he had been drinking as well and now he had to do what he could to determine the proper course of action for defusing the situation.

"Oh?  I still haven't the slightest idea what your occupation is but I'd wager it's some manner of violence.  Perhaps protection?  No… no that doesn't quite seem right because if you failed, they likely wouldn't be able to steal your task.  Ah!  I know… nope, lost it," he inquired, drawing false conclusions which he already knew to be wrong.  It was much easier to sound like a blubbering idiot than it was to casually inform the woman he was talking to that he was in fact the man she sought.

In the worst possible scenario, they were all accomplices and she could have lain a trap in the hopes of snaring him in it and attacking him when the odds were in her favor.  At the least, he had a plan in mind to remove one of the men as a possible threat.  Even if she were planning an ambush, he would strike first in a manner that would prevent a three versus one scenario and her reaction would either exonerate or condemn her in his mind.

"Would be a good time for you to show up," he heard her say.  The words rang in his head.  She seemed to have no suspicion pertaining to his actual identity, meaning it was likely her words were truthful concerning the other two men.  As she excused herself from the table, Icarus stood up as well.

"Contract accepted.  I'll see you in a moment," Icarus said, only loud enough for her to perhaps hear a fragment of it.  

Meandering casually to the bar, Icarus ordered two pints of ale and placed his coins down with a bit of interest as well.  As he sipped one, he walked toward the man at the rear corner of the place, choosing the man the woman had not.  The man focused on him and scowled as he approached.

"Sorry, mate, what's with the sour-looking face?  The lady was a bit upset at you and your friend and I thought I'd ease things over a drink," Icarus said, his face in an innocent smile.

The man didn't seem to appreciate his presence, however.  "Piss off," was his only reply.

Icarus reeled back and downed the first glass as he kept his eye on the man.  Looking once toward the glass and then once at the man, he chuckled.  "Sorry to bother you then, have a good night," he said as he turned away.  With his first step, Icarus slipped and fell backward, his drink flying over his shoulder and hitting the man in the face.  

Regaining his balance, he stepped forward and turned around, noticing that the man was covered in the alcoholic beverage.  With a smile and look on his face indicating he was sorry, the entire incident could surely have continued as an accident.  The man, however, did not seem to think so and he wound up a swing directly for his face.  

As the man lashed out with a blow, Icarus stepped into it, blocking the arm at the elbow with his shoulder and pinning the man to the wall.  Icarus looked up toward the barkeep, seeing neither he nor the other patrons had taken notice as of yet.  With one quick thrust, one of the thick mugs struck the man in the throat, causing him to choke as he struggled to breathe.  The blow was far short of killing him, but he could at least rely on it keeping him busy for a few minutes.

Walking toward the woman as she confronted the other man, Icarus at last caught the attention of the barkeep who glanced toward the corner he had just left from.  Tired of his drunken antics, he at last told him to leave, unaware of exactly what Icarus had done to an alledged patron.  

Putting both glasses down on the counter, Icarus proceeded toward the woman that was confronting the man near the door.  Grabbing her hand, he whispered in her ear.  "It would probably be best if we left," he imparted in a soft voice.

She could hear him say something, but she was far too heated at the moment to pay it any mind.  She was storming towards the man by the door and had every intention of causing a scene.  Normally, she was all about subtlety, but had flown out the window when she realized that not one, but both of the men who liked to cause problems for her had shown up.  She was trying to work out the details of not fulfilling a contract, but that was going to prove difficult if those two just offed the poor old shopkeeper anyway.

”Fancy seeing you here,” she said pointedly as she arrived next to the man.  He turned to look up at her, a mild hint of surprise in his eyes.  After a moment of silence, she spoke again.  ”I’m not an idiot,” she hissed, leaning down close to him.  “”There’s only so many times you can ‘conveniently’ be in the same place as me when a contract has yet to be fulfilled without it becoming suspicious,” she continued, her voice full of malice.  

”I don’t know what yer talkin’ bout, lady,” he said loudly, in a clear, yet poor, attempt to draw attention to this woman that was speaking to him.  Dalanesca laughed coldly and continued to speak. 

”Don’t think I didn’t see you and him,” she said, and turned to jab her thumb in the direction of the other, who she now realized was facing problems of his own as Icarus was interacting with him, if one could call it that.  The other man’s face was sopping wet - Did he throw his drink at him? she wondered to herself, before turning back to the man at hand.  Her ‘companion’ was handling the other man, and she thought it an opportune time to teach this one a lesson after all.

Her hidden blade up her sleeve dropped into her hand swiftly and she held it up to the man’s throat, intent on doing nothing more than putting the ever loving fear of the deities into him - at which point her new companion had appeared by her side and grabbed her free hand, indicating to her that they needed to leave the establishment.  Before removing her blade from the threatening position it had taken, she cast her gaze outwards, seeing that the barkeep had in fact noticed the tussle occurring and seemed intent on removing the both of them. 

She nodded and snuck the blade back up her sleeve, and followed behind the man to the exit, hand still in his.  When the two of them had made it outside, she removed her hand from his grasp and stomped her foot in anger - truthfully, the alcohol had an effect on her to the point where she didn’t care that she was causing a scene.

”What the hell was that all about?  Why did you stop me in there?” she asked, staring at him.  ”Who are you, so important, that you can just sit down and proceed to tell me what I need to do?  I’m grateful that you pointed those two vultures out, but I could have taught him a lesson!”  She sighed with exasperation, folding her arms pointedly under her breasts.  ”You ruined it,” she repeated with a huff, and stared at him, childish anger in her eyes.  She still had no idea that it was the man she had met earlier in the day.

Icarus glanced back toward the door where the other man had chosen to check on his friend still fighting for air.  He'd be fine in a few minutes, but that wasn't too important.  What mattered for the moment was the two of them leaving the immediate area because it was likely a full fight would commence and Icarus wasn't too keen on fighting without his swords.  The throwing knives still up in his sleeves were a last ditch attempt at a concealable means of protecting himself in the event this woman had been preparing a trap.

With the woman's scornful words, he figured she didn't quite know everything that had transpired at that moment when he came to her claiming they should leave.  If she had seen him strike the other man in the throat, she would likely be agreeing that they should put as much distance between themselves and the bar as possible.  As it was, they likely only had a few minutes before the pair would be seeking to grant them their comeupance for what he had done to the man in the corner.  

"We don't have time.  I gave a solitary warning to the man in the corner.  Right now, he's choking on a partially compressed windpipe but it won't stall him forever.  I'd rather not be around when they're ready.  Go find that bloke you had a disagreement with earlier today.  He's probably still stalking around wherever you two were," he said, turning down the road in the opposite direction of the shop and running at a full sprint.

After he was sure he wasn't being followed, Icarus would circle around and return to the shop, hopefully with enough time to don his garb once more and arm himself.  The two assassins that were planning to exact revenge on at least one of them could likely find track them to the establishment no matter which one they followed as it was their destination.  The whole meeting in the tavern was a sham.

Realisitically, he had come out with a set of objectives that were now fulfilled.  He successfully made contact with the woman and gained a better appraisal of her character and determined if she were actually planning to become a threat once more.  In addition, he discovered additional assassins hoping to pick up the contract she was considering null and void.  If she had chosen otherwise, he would have attempted to injure her further, not so much to kill her as to hamper her and keep her from pursuing when he would begin escorting the shop keeper.  

The air about the woman was more nonchalant than threatening, as though she did her job without many cares rather than an intrinsic enjoyment of the act of ending another's life.  He determined her as salvageable.  To him, she was a slate with many words already upon it but a large blank portion waiting to be written on.  A full transformation of her character was unlikely, but he could at least push her slightly down the right path that she could continue on her own if she so chose.

After continuing for a few minutes, he slowed his pace to catch his breath and determine he was no longer within eyesight or earshot before rounding another corner.  Traveling as quickly as possible, Icarus ran once more down alleys and slowly emptying streets to return to the store he had been in earlier.  With a key, he unlocked it once more and went inside, glancing around to ensure he was not followed by some means.  Hurriedly, he changed his clothes in the darkness inside, returning to his gear and placing the mask over his face.  The entire task took a staunch five minutes at best by the time he hid the clothes he had worn in a drawer and removed the throwing knives.  

Once more, Icarus remained in the darkness of the shop, arms crossed as he rested against the wall on the other side of the counter and waited.  The lights were easy enough to turn on for the woman upon entering.  A slight fumble as hands reached out to check for a lamp and she would be able to manage within a moment upon her arrival. His intent wasn't to scare her, but if he had been followed, it served to use the ambient light outside to hide his presence within and see any shadows that were cast by those wandering by in the moonlight.

Dalanesca blinked a few times in confusion as the man explained to her why time was of the essence.  Fortunately for him, the alcohol in her system still clouded her mind enough where she was unable to put two and two together.  Had she been of completely sound thoughts, she probably would have sensed the suspicion that his behavior and choice of actions should have raised – but she did not.  Instead, she stared at him dumbly as he took off running down the street.  He had told her to look for the masked man she had met earlier around the shop – but why would he know that?   Her assailant (she was unsure of whether to refer to him mentally as such or not – he was, after all, only doing his job, and had probably taken zero pleasure in causing her harm) had told her to meet him elsewhere… but perhaps the man was right?  Perhaps she should head back to the place where it had began – maybe he had come looking for her earlier but had been unable to find her?

She stood in place for a moment in contemplation before shrugging to herself.  She was unsure of whether or not to head back towards the shop – what if he was still there, but he took her arrival as coming back to attempt to finish the job, and it earned her something worse than the gash in her leg?  She was not quite certain she was willing to take the risk, so she allowed herself a few minutes to think about whether or not it was worth it.

Indiscretion eventually got the best of her, and she took off towards the shop, in the opposite direction than the man that had just ran off from her.  Her weapons were still on her person, but everything was sheathed away so as she would not appear to be a threat – all within reach in case it was necessary.  Several minutes passed as she was not moving at a run.  Eventually, she arrived at the shop, and saw that it was quite dark inside.

She slowly opened the door to the establishment, immediately fumbling for a lamp on the inside.  She found one, managing to turn the knob to allow for more light to be cast into the establishment.  She was not surprised to see the masked man from earlier leaning against a wall on the other side of the counter, as though he had been waiting for her for quite some time.  She stood motionless for a moment, eyes fixated on him.  

She was much less composed than she had been at their previous meeting in the shop.  Her dark hair fell in loose waves around her shoulders, mussed slightly from the short tussle she had gotten into at the tavern.  Her cheeks held a bit more color than they once had, thanks to the liquor.  Her clothing was much less protective as well, consisting only of a tunic, corset, and leggings – all protective leather had been discarded at her place of residence.  The clothes she wore now allowed her plenty of places to conceal her weaponry, but she had an inkling that such precautions were unnecessary with the casual way that he seemed to be leaning against the wall.

”So much for meeting me at the tavern,” she said, with a bit of a laugh.  She continued to look at him, taking in his frame – his overall build seemed somewhat familiar to her, but the residual effects of the drinks she had consumed caused her to brush this off to the fact that she had seen him earlier in the day, not that it could possibly have been the same man as before.  Perhaps the sound of his voice would give it away, or perchance the mask would muffle it enough to continue to conceal his identity.  

She leaned back against the opposite wall from him, almost mimicking him – which she found to be somewhat amusing, and let out a bit of a chuckle at the situation.  ”What’s left to discuss then, besides you standing me up?” she asked, a snark to her voice.

When the woman entered the shop, she seemed rather upset with him, believing it had indeed not been him at the tavern earlier.  He would be sure to reveal it to her within a few minutes, but for the moment, he needed to keep his eyes focused on the task at hand.  Outside, with the light of the shop, Icarus could see a partial shadow that was not a part of the outline of the building's structure.  The angle of the lamp illuminated figures outside as well, indicating there was one person outside, leaning against the wall to eavesdrop.

He came away from the wall, unfolding his arms and shrugging.  Casually, he walked toward her, working his way around the corner  while keeping his eyes trained on the shadow cast by the lamp as light flushed from the window sill and spilled into the street before the entrance.  The walls were by no means thick nor reinforced, merely an inch or so of plank wood that wouldn't withstand what he intended.  

"Well, I did certainly check on the situation there and I did get to find out a bit more information I was looking for.  I'm afraid I have some bad news for you," he said, drawing his katana and ensuring it scraped along the scabbard to generate more sound.  

If both of the other assassins were outside, he would at least distract them by causing them to assume he was going to kill their competition.  Making a signal with his hand to move out of the way, Icarus plunged the blade into the wall with both hands, bending the blade on initial impact until it straightened and drove through in the fraction of a second the whole action took.  Hearing a pained cry, he withdrew the blade and stepped to the doorway.  Outside, one of the other assassins lay on the ground, a wound having been inflicted in his ribcage that struck the left kidney and bottom portion of the left lung judging from the angle of it.  

Icarus glanced around and sheathed his blade before moving in and sitting on one of the counters.  He casually swung his legs as he sat there, reaching a hand to his mask.  "Standing you up, though?  I really take offense to that.  You'd think a man could be taken at his word," he chuckled while removing his mask to reveal his face at last.

"I apologize for the roundabout manner I went in when I was contacting you there.  I was worried about the whole situation and needed to find out more information such as what your actual intentions pertaining to the job were, any potential accomplices or additional threats that could be shadowing you and the like.  I was actually a bit flattered you thought so highly of me.  Seems there's only one more person I'll be having to hunt down before I leave with the merchant," he explained. a mischievous grin on his face.

Icarus figured the woman would likely be fairly upset with him at first, but it was fine.  For the moment, it seemed they at least could relax and focus on more important matters than what he had subjected her to at the tavern as he pried for information.  Sure, the way he went about it was dishonest, in a way, but he was a tactician after all and deception was an important tool of the trade that served well in war and peace as well.  

"What plans do you have now, if you're considering getting out of the murder for hire business?  You know there are always people that still pay fairly well for protection, pretty decent sort most of the time, too," he said, offering a business opportunity for her while she was in a bit of a transitive phase.

At first, she did not react to the man’s moving toward her.  She found herself merely curious, for his gaze seemed to be transfixed on something in the shadows.  She paid no mind, her senses still mildly dulled from her earlier drink – though the cloudiness was beginning to wear off.  ”What do you mean bad news…?” she asked, trailing off.  As he began to draw his katana from his scabbard, she immediately dropped a dagger from her wrist sheath into her hand, readying herself defensively.  She found it quite odd that he was making such an act out of drawing his weapon, loudly pulling it from its sheath, but was not going to allow him to attack her – though he shortly motioned with his hand to get out of the way. 

She lowered her dagger and darted to the side, at which point the man thrust his blade into the wall.  She blinked, eyes wide in surprise, as she realized what he was doing – one of the other assassins was attempting to eavesdrop on the two of them, and it seemed that this masked man was not going to have it.  She was furious – the man must have followed her from the tavern, and been quite stealthy about it as well.

All of the activity had sobered her up quite nicely, and she watched him with a cautious eye as he hoisted himself up to sit on the counter, legs swinging back and forth in such a nonchalant way.  As his hand pulled his mask from his face, she couldn’t help but let out a laugh.  ”Nice,” she said, chuckling, and slid down to sit on the floor against the wall, her legs stretched out in front of her. 

She was quiet for a moment after he finished speaking, being careful as to what words she chose.  ”You thought an assassin was untrustworthy?  How dare you!” she huffed sarcastically, an embarrassed smile crossing her lips.  ”Some assassin I am, though, eh? Can’t even tell a man when he doesn’t have his face covered,” she said.  ”You’re a good actor, though.  I’ll definitely give you that,” she said, applauding in a deadpan manner.  

She found herself feeling slightly happy at the thought of him hunting the other assassin down and eliminating him – he was nothing but trouble for her, anyway, and having him out of the picture would be a relief, even if she were to cease taking assassination contracts – which seemed to be likely with the direction she was headed.  ”Have at him, life will be much easier with him not around,” she said, quietly.  

After a moment, she got up off the ground and walked over to the counter to where the man sat, leaning back against it a little over a foot away from him, with her legs at an angle and arms folded beneath her breasts.  ”The drunken antics were a bit shoddy,” she quipped, unsure if he had actually been inebriated or if he was merely keeping up the façade that he had been utilizing.  Perhaps it was the fact that she could tell he had experienced much in his life, just as she had, but she felt that she could crack a joke here and there and he would appreciate the humor.  ”And you called me ‘lovely’?  That should have given it away right then and there,” she said, shaking her head in humor.

The conversation took a turn for serious when he asked what her plan was if she was not going to partake in assassinations any longer.  She thought back to the discussion that she had held with him back in the bar.  She had been awfully candid with him, realizing that she had shared an awful lot of personal details about how she had been feeling as of late.  She chalked it up to the liquor, and offered him a shrug.  ”I don’t actually know,” she said, and she sounded as though she was completely okay with that – though the comment about offering protection to others piqued her interest.  ”Sounds like it could be fun,” she said, with a bit of a glitter to her eye.  ”Why, you know of someone looking for someone?” she asked, hopefully.

After a moment’s pause and allowing him to answer her, she piped up once more.  ”So, mystery man.  You going to tell me your name, ever, or do I just get to keep wondering?”  She gave him a crooked smile before offering her own name.  ”I’m Dalanesca,” she said, perchance wondering if the brief familiarity she had felt earlier in their meeting would be rekindled by the mention of her name.

He nodded and gave a light bow as a comical means of accepting her miniscule praise.  Her words concerning his distrust of assassins made him chuckle.  It was entirely true that it was unwise to take them simply at their word and she was even acknowledging it with the say she playfully acted insulted.  He found it strange, but similar to what she had mentioned earlier when she was doubting her particular line of work.

"You give me too much credit.  I went with doing the opposite of what you would probably expect if I were to actually see you in person.  Looking a drunken fool just happens to come a little too naturally for me," he explained.  In all actuality, Icarus was quite the drunkard at times, perhaps his only escape from the grim reality he had been forced to live.  

The woman approved of his promised pursuit of the other assassin as well and he couldn't help feeling that either way, he would be making her job easier even if she were to remain an assassin following this night.  It was fine by him.  They at least had an understanding that this contract was null and void following their initial meeting.  She chided him when it came to his drunken activities, but it was fine.  In the end, he found the other assassins and determined the amount of truth her words carried, at least in that moment.

"Now hang on.  You are by no means ugly," he chuckled while she pointed out his reference toward her as "lovely".  Truthfully, he was certain she was one of the more attractive women in there, or at least probably the one with the higher standards.  That and there was a minute air about her that perhaps was a relic of the land he thought they both had left or perhaps it was simply her nature that made her seem… brighter?  He didn't know how to explain it, but there was something that made her more enjoyable to even gaze at than the common bar wenches present at the tavern.

Her possible interest in protecting others for money was a bit intriguing to him.  It seemed perhaps that a combination of factors prior to his interference had already set her following a path that made her start to question the value of taking lives versus saving them.  Icarus didn't know just how far she had gone down that path, but he was still glad he could help propel her further from that dark and troubling profession.

After her introduction, a slight flash of memory came to his thoughts.  Her name was something Icarus believed the Drow had mentioned at some point, but he could be wrong.  "Icarus.  So what's the plan now?  Seems I've accomplished most of what I wanted to and we're now familiar with one another.  The name rings a bell, but I can't for the life of me say anything aside from the familiarity of the face and name," he explained.

Given the serious turn of events that had taken place earlier in the day, Dalanesca was grateful that the tone between the two of them seemed to have become more light-hearted in nature.  The pain in her leg was now down to a dull throb.  She could barely feel it, and for that she was grateful – the injury could have been much worse, for she had seen some mercenaries take on protection contracts and literally kill anyone who got in the way of protecting their client.  Fortunately for her, this man seemed to be more a peaceful type, or at least that was the air he was giving off.  Her injury had not been something he desired to do, but rather something that was necessary for him to get his point across.

She let out a chuckle, and explained herself to him.  ”I don’t know that I would call it credit,” she confessed, her hands braced on the counter below her, shoulders shrugging.  ”It was a tad bit cliché,” she said, softly poking fun at him.  She meant no ill manner by it, only to indicate that she was in fact comfortable with the conversation at this point.  

She laughed, rather loudly, at his comment about her not being ugly.  It was most definitely not her intention to fish for compliments, but it had happened regardless.  She could feel a small hint of color rise to her cheeks – her common reaction to any sort of compliment she received.  She attempted to brush it off in a humorous manager.  ”Why thank you,” she said, a hint of laughter still apparent in our voice.  She stood from the counter momentarily and flipped her hair about in a dramatic fashion; much like a barroom wench would, playing up the humor of the situation.  

Hoisting herself back onto the counter, she allowed the conversation to follow a more serious topic.  When he finally told her his name, she froze in the spot – it had triggered something, some sort of memory – nothing distinct, but it was enough to make her hesitate.  She had the same bits and pieces flash back and forth in her mind as she had when she had most recently met Moliira in a chance encounter at a cemetery… though how long ago that was she was quite uncertain.  Regardless of the circumstances, it seemed that her memory of the two of them was connected somehow.

She was quiet for a moment, her eyes fixated on him as though it were going to help her remember more, even though she knew it wouldn’t.  But perhaps… just maybe, he would know something or have some sort of memory that could assist her as well.  His name had been jarring to her, and that meant that he was somehow connected to her past, even if the connection was miniscule. 

Eventually she broke the silence.  ”If my name rang a bell for you, yours just punched me in the face,” she said quietly.  ”My plan now is to take an indefinite hiatus from assassination,” she said pointedly.  ”I’ve got to figure out how I ended up here.”  She was now more talking to herself than to Icarus, but seemed to be attempting to involve him in the conversation anyway.   ”I keep waking up every day thinking things will make sense, but it just gets more convoluted,” she said, sighing.  Running a hand through her hair, she turned to him, now actually focusing her speech on him.  

”So… you protect people for money, right?” she asked.  ”Would you be willing to, I don’t know… help someone find out information?  I mean, I don’t mean like torturing information out of people, but almost like, piecing together parts of memories, things that don’t make sense, to see if they would make sense?”  

She hopped down off the counter and turned to face him.  For the first time since the two had begun the strange day they were having, she actually looked lost and mildly desperate.  ”If you are, then maybe you can help me?”  She wasn’t sure if he would know of what she was speaking, but she had a slight idea that maybe he would see where she was coming from.

His mild flirtation seemed well-received and her continued sense of humor brought a fairly stressful day to a much more peaceful close. For a moment, Icarus thought he was growing some sort of magical penis from his forehead or something given the way she looked at him. She seemed deep in thought, but he was willing to distract her slightly with movement, trying to force her to follow him with her eyes as he leaned side to side.

By his own mental admission, Icarus was a bit surprised by the sudden turn of events and how the woman openly resigned herself to cease her current profession in response to her desire to discover more about herself. It seemed that she was somewhat confused by everything that had occurred lately, much like himself. It was a bit comical how they started at opposite ends once they first met but in a matter of hours, they were finding more in common with one another than they thought.

”I can definitely understand how that goes. It's one of the reasons I got into this line of work. I have everything I need to kill someone, but it just doesn't seem to fit me, meanwhile, the rest of the world is different from anything I can recall,” he explained.

Even more surprisingly, Dalanesca sought to confirm his current profession and even asked about a possible offer. It honestly served within his best interests as well to assist her if she was previously from the same world as he and they were deposited here with little to no knowledge of the world around them. He figured that it would be questionable, but he could keep her from becoming too much of a threat to him if he kept an eye on her if she were to turn on him.


”I'll be honest, it isn't generally as rewarding or quick as an assassination likely is, but preserving life just seems to have more intrinsic value. I wouldn't be opposed to it, though I need to help the merchant to his destination first. After that, I suppose we can find out the answers that are perplexing both of us,” Icarus answered, agreeing to Dalanesca's request.